Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280032
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ROBERT FREIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Now I know how they felt," Bill Ellenbogen said of the bygone travelers.
Ellenbogen's not ready to jump off the train. But he and other advocates continue to be frustrated by unexpected obstacles encountered by the Huckleberry Trail during the past year.
Last October, when the trail received a $453,242 state grant, supporters ecstatically predicted construction of the six-mile bike and footpath between Christiansburg and Blacksburg would begin this spring.
Eleven months later, not a penny of the money has trickled down to the trail project, and the start of construction has been pushed back at least a year.
Environmental regulations, route changes and financial issues have sidetracked the Huckleberry Trail and held up funding. Although none of these issues threatens to permanently derail the trail, they have consumed enough time and energy to blunt the project's momentum.
"I'm a private-sector guy," said Ellenbogen, a Blacksburg restaurant owner who heads Friends of the Huckleberry. "This has been a baptism for me."
To the friends group, only the New River Valley Symphony Orchestra has more strings than the state grant money. Thus far the trail has been forced to assert that it will not disturb natural communities of rare plants and animals. Designers also reconfigured some parts of the pathway to accommodate disabled users, as required by law.
The next hurdle will occur this week as a Virginia Department of Transportation archeologist plans to examine four sites along the trail.
If the sites are found to contain significant Indian artifacts, the trail will have to be rerouted or modified while archeologists comb the ground.
The Huckleberry Trail will have to foot the bill for that kind of intensive archeological work, which could cost $40,000 to $200,000.
Craig Lukezic, the state archeologist who will examine the sites, predicts the excavations won't yield anything significant. Nonetheless, trail supporters are holding their breath and clutching their wallets.
"We have learned on this project that minor problems can cost a lot of money," Ellenbogen said. "Arrowheads and butterflies can be expensive."
The archeological work and a subsequent report will take about a month. Until it is completed and the trail is certified as no risk to any artifacts, the state grant money will be held up.
Lukezic also offered to give the trail a historic iron truss highway bridge, which presently spans Back Creek in Highland County but is slated for removal next year. The bridge would be disassembled, moved and reconstructed at state expense, he said.
Members of People Advocating The Huckleberry met with Lukezic last week and agreed the old bridge would be a nice addition to the trail.
Yet there's a catch. Probably the old bridge is covered with toxic lead-based paint, which would have to be removed at the trail's expense. And the prospect of paying for that procedure made PATH members backpedal.
Other significant issues involving the trail's route remain unresolved. Most of its course follows an abandoned rail line which was turned over to public ownership when the tracks were pulled up 35 years ago.
However, Virginia Tech Airport's runway was built too close for comfort to the old rail line, forcing the trail to be relocated as it crosses the university's property.
Negotiations between trail supporters and university officials concerning the relocation have moved ahead smoothly. Yet one trouble spot remains.
East of where the Huckleberry Trail will cross beneath the U.S. 460 bypass, the route intersects a Tech agricultural road. Ellenbogen believes placing cattle guards and gates at the intersection will accommodate both trail users and Tech's farm machinery and livestock. At most this should cost several thousand dollars, he says.
Tech officials disagree. They say the intersection needs a multigrade crossing that separates agriculture and trail traffic, which likely would force the trail to build an underpass.
Negotiations are continuing, but Ellenbogen fears the tunnel could cost the trail $50-70,000, another unexpected budgetary expense.
Resolution of these various issues mean little physical work will occur on the Huckleberry Trail this winter.
"It's possible that construction can begin in the spring," Ellenbogen said. "But it's hard to know what's going on."
by CNB